You’d figure it would take a lot to upstage the massive showdown between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. Well, that’s exactly what happened Saturday night.
Canelo Alvarez soundly defeated Julio Cesar Chavez in a catchweight boxing fight Saturday in Las Vegas. Alvarez’s victory wasn’t too surprising — the Mexico native was a heavy favorite — but it did pave the way for one of the biggest matchups in recent boxing history: Alvarez against the undefeated Gennady Golovkin for the middleweight championship.
That bout was confirmed after Saturday’s fight, with a date set for Sept. 16. But UFC president Dana White, who was at T-Mobile Arena watching Alvarez-Chavez, revealed Sept. 16 also was his hopeful date for McGregor vs. Mayweather if the two sides could come to an agreement.
“We just lost our date to Canelo and Triple-G, but good, that’s a good fight. I’ll be at that one, too,” White told FOX Sports.
Alvarez vs. Golovkin is expected to be a massive draw, so it makes sense for White to pick another date for the UFC star and boxing legend to square off in the boxing ring. But his revelation now gives fans a time frame of when the highly anticipated superfight could go down. While it’s unclear whether White would push the bout up to August or wait until after Alvarez vs. Golovkin, at least we have a tangible range of dates.
Of course, a lot still needs to happen for McGregor vs. Mayweather to be finalized — both sides must work out the financials of an agreement, and White admitted two weeks ago that the camps are “not even close.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
